England 3 - 1 Italy
England scorers: Harry Kane (32’ pen., 77’), Marcus Rashford (57’)
Italy scorers: Gianluca Scamacca (15’)
Venue: Wembley Stadium, London, England
Referee: Clément Turpin (France)
| Starting XI | Notes | Subs | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jordan Pickford | Aaron Ramsdale | ||
| John Stones | 63’ | Sam Johnstone | |
| Harry Maguire | Lewis Dunk | ||
| Kyle Walker | Levi Colwill | ||
| Kieran Trippier | Marc Guéhi | 63’ | |
| Kalvin Phillips | 9’ 69’ | Trent Alexander-Arnold | |
| Declan Rice | Jarrod Bowen | ||
| Marcus Rashford | 57’ | Jordan Henderson | 69’ |
| Jude Bellingham | 85’ | Conor Gallagher | |
| Phil Foden | James Maddison | ||
| Harry Kane | 32’ 77’ | Jack Grealish | 85’ |
| Ollie Watkins |
Manager: Gareth Southgate (England)
| Starting XI | Notes | Subs | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gianluigi Donnarumma | Alex Meret | ||
| Giorgio Scalvini | 65’ | Guglielmo Vicario | |
| Francesco Acerbi | 63’ | Alessandro Bastoni | 63’ |
| Giovanni Di Lorenzo | 28’ | Gianluca Mancini | |
| Destiny Udogie | 10’ 63’ | Federico Gatti | |
| Bryan Cristante | Matteo Darmian | ||
| Davide Frattesi | Federico Dimarco | 63’ | |
| Nicolò Barella | Manuel Locatelli | ||
| Domenico Berardi | 78’ | Giacomo Bonaventura | |
| Stephan El Shaarawy | Giacomo Raspadori | 78’ | |
| Gianluca Scamacca | 15’ 63’ | Moise Kean | 63’ |
| Riccardo Orsolini |
Manager: Luciano Spalletti (Italy)
1’: We’re off!
9’: Kalvin Phillips carded for a rough late challenge on Frattesi
10’: Destiny Udogie goes into the book after Foden steals an underhit pass from Frattesi, forcing Udogie into the tactical foul
13’: Rashford’s free kick gets over the wall! And just misses the top corner.
15’: GOAL ITALY!! Di Lorenzo fires a cross, it takes a tiny deflection but reaches Gianluca Scamacca who roofs it from close range!
23’: Scamacca goes for his second! Fires wide.
26’: Bellingham’s header towards the far side is weak and easily saved by Donnarumma.
28’: PENALTY FOR ENGLAND!! Bellingham scythed down by Giovanni Di Lorenzo! A long VAR check to confirm it and give Di Lorenzo a card.
32’: GOAL ENGLAND!! Harry Kane takes the penalty right down the middle!
36’: Almost another goal for Italy from a cross from the right! But Stones makes a crucial desperate block.
40’: Pause for medical attention as Bellingham and Scalvini crack their heads together.
44’: SAVE! Rashford gets around Di Lorenzo and fires but it’s right at Donnarumma.
45+2’: SAVE!! Pickford gets down in time and denies Udogie from close range! Gives up a big rebound right up in the middle but the defense shuts it down.
45+3’: Acerbi misses the target from a difficult angle.
HT England 1-1 Italy Exciting match so far!
46’: We’re back!
48’: Foden goes down in the box, it won’t be given as a penalty. Looked like a dive to me in real time but upon replay I think Italy got away with one there.
51’: Phillips puts a shot over the bar from distance.
56’: Berardi fires way over.
57’: GOAL ENGLAND!! Bellingham launches the counter, then feeds it to Marcus Rashford on the left, Rashford cuts down the edge of the box and fires between the defenders!
61’: Scamacca on target! Stopped and claimed comfortably by Pickford.
63’: England substitution: Marc Guéhi on for John Stones
63’: Italy triple sub: Alessandro Bastoni, Federico Dimarco and Moise Kean on for Francesco Acerbi, Destiny Udogie and Gianluca Scamacca
65’: Giorgio Scalvini carded for dissent after a bad no-call on Phillips.
68’: SAVE! Foden smashes a shot from distance but Donnarumma down in time!
69’: England substitution: Jordan Henderson on for Kalvin Phillips
77’: GOAL ENGLAND!! A beautiful solo goal from Harry Kane, dribbling through the three-man defense and finishing over the keeper’s outstretched arm!
78’: Italy substitution: Giacomo Raspadori on for Domenico Berardi
85’: England substitution: Jack Grealish on for Jude Bellingham
90+1’: Kean stabs a shot on target but Pickford is behind it all the way.
FT England 3-1 Italy England qualifies for Euro 2024!
I think what makes me the most disappointed is our defence. Even when we had no one to score we at least looked sound defensively. I can’t even say that any longer.
Yeah it’s the defence which is worst. Midfield and even attach with Chiesa is decent, but with Chiellini gone there’s a huge hole in defence nobody can currently come close to filling
Fantastic from England, a couple of lapses in defence, but otherwise a near flawless performance.
The real standouts this match were that Englands attack, of course, but Rice deserves special plaudits. He was amazing in the middle.
Always is. He is so consistent
People here are getting carried away. This was a decent win for England as it secures our spot but we’ve walked the qualifiers for years and this Italy side was even worse than the one that beat us in the Euros (which also wasn’t very good).
Save all of your “those who want Southgate out are idiots” comments until we actually win something with him instead of bottling. Not when we get past qualifiers. That is just tinpot.
Cue the English hyperbole
Not really, we are still crap at the back when under pressure
Class little 30 minute cameo from Guehi. Cracking little team we have.
His mentality is top class, came into the game and looked like he’d been playing all game, didn’t miss a beat. He should be starting in the Euros in my entirely unbiased opinion.
He is the future. Glad he gets called up to every squad now
Because I know all our non-English friends absolutely love it when we do it, lets start early.
It’s coming home!!!
A good win for England We were sloppy at the back that led to the Italian goal but then found a rhythm afterwards. Even Maguire performed OK last night, which says it all. That Bellingham / Rashford linkup was amazing. MOTM for me - Bellingham. At least we’re through. I think Italy will have to go for a wildcard to get to Germany. No disrespect to the Italians, but only Scamacca and Ugboie (who has potential to be a future talent) were any good.
Italy are in serious trouble now right? Must win match against Ukraine coming up.
Technically they still have a chance because of the Nation’s League to qualify if they finish 3rd but it was be pretty disastrous if they don’t finish 2nd
even if they don’t finish top 2 they have a chance through the UNL playoffs(they’ll either play whichever league A teams don’t make it automatically or the best league D team)
The play against North Macedonia first. If they win that, a draw would be enough against ukraine
Meh, Ukraine aren’t all that. Italy should be fine.
This means that England are winning the Euro
Until southgate drags them down with negative tactics
Undefeated in a calendar year
Beat the Italians home and away on an aggregate 5-2 scoreline
Qualified for the Euros with 2 games to spare
Yep, it’s Southgate Out time 😎
That is the vare minimum with the players you have
Sorry now that we beat Italy it means they’re bad or not a big team so it doesn’t count
Qualifying has never been Southgate’s issue. It’s been a lack of tactical ability in the later stages of tournaments and no ability to formulate a Plan B.
i like southgate a lot and there’s no doubting what he’s achieved, i just think he’s too conservative to actually make the difference that would win the trophies.
I don’t think Southgate should be sacked, but this argument is flawed. Him doing well doesn’t mean someone else wouldn’t be doing better with the material. And qualifying was never the biggest hurdle, it is the tournament performances where he hasnt looked great. Ironically despite reaching a final.
england winning it in 2026, there is no way around
Until southgate gets a 1-0 lead then tries to defend it
Kane and Bellingham were just unplayable this game.
Hello darkness, my old friend
what are italy’s chances of failing to qualify
Not exactly sure what Southgate was going for with a double pivot of Rice and Phillips, in the first half it didn’t even feel like they stopped Barella and Fratesi pushing on into dangerous areas and when you have Stones in the team you can just have him push up when you have possession of the ball in the same area that Phillips occupied, made the game a bit clogged when they were trying to play out imo. That said the Kane dropping in and Bellingham running from deep has the ability to be absolutely devastating both were excellent tonight.
3-1 maybe a bit harsh on Italy, but Di Lorenzo and Udogie sold far to hard not expecting the cut in on the Rashford goal and the high line got caught out for the other goals as much as I think Di Lorenzo’s tackle got enough of the ball.